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Thursday, November 14, 2013

Space Unit with Lots of Resources for Educators

Hello Friends,

Today's post is going to be focused on my current Science Unit since I know many educators are looking for good ideas that can be easily implemented. For the past two weeks our class has been studying Earth and Space. Next week we will focus on the moon. Many of these lessons were created when a fellow teacher friend, Teresa, and I wanted to address all our focus calendar skills. Our goal was to keep all students actively engaged yet address all learning modalities. I also wanted to create interactive notebooks that students would take care of and be proud of. The following are a list of ideas/links/resources that you can use in your class.

Week One

At the beginning of the Space unit we brainstormed space words to activate background knowledge, which was followed with creating a Vocab foldable. The students had 6 required words which were written on the outside of each flap. Under each flap is the definition and an illustration. Then on day two, the students listened to a passage on stars and had to draw what they visualized. After listening to the 9 paragraph passage they had refer back to the passage and find a fact for each visual representation.

On day three we read Star/Sun Fact cards and played Find Someone Who...

The students followed with a Stars Temperature Diagram.

On the fourth day we created a Planet Mnemonic. I found a free template on TpT, but decreased the size to fit 6 on a page. Each student received a copy for their notebook and then created their own.

On the final day of week one we created our planet diagrams. They look FABULOUS!

I used a coloring page so the planets would "pop" on the black construction paper and then the students added a title, their mnemonic, the sun, and an asteroid belt.

Week Two

The second week began with a review of our mnemonic and diagrams. The we used our resources to create a 4 box grid in our notebook for the inner and outer planets.

Students were required to find 5 facts (or more) for each planet. They read with a partner and documented their own notes. Then the students had to write 5 questions and quiz each other. I am going to use their questions to create a CPS (einstruction clickers) review before the test.

Day three was a venn diagram comparing/contrasting the inner and outer planets. The students were able to choose which style they wanted to use.

Day four consisted of Planet Riddles and a Space Comic Strip. We are still working on the comic, but they were instructed to create a 6 panel story with 3 - 5 space facts. I am looking forward to the students finishing tomorrow.

Week Three

Next week will be all about the Moon...more activities and resources to come!